SCREENED AT THE 2005 VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Caveh Zahedi. 98 minutes ago, I had no clue who this guy is, but after watching his new mockumentary “I Am a Sex Addict,” he has created such an interesting character that I certainly won’t forget about him for a long time. Zahedi is an independent filmmaker based out of San Francisco who has done several short and experimental films and his first feature, the quasi-autobiographical “Sex Addict” is, despite its flaws, a pretty fascinating look into the mind of someone who has too much baby batter on the brain.

Caveh Zahedi plays himself, a character who can’t seem to stop having sex, and even when he thinks that he’s satisfied, along comes another challenge. The film’s set-up is instructional, where we see Caveh talking directly to the camera and cutting between strategies written on a chalk-board. He takes us on the path from one girlfriend to the next and how the relationships start out strong, but eventually fall apart since they aren’t up to the fantasies that Caveh is brewing in his head.

It begins when Caveh starts having flings with a prostitute. After a few instances of oral sex, he thinks he has cured his addiction until one french hooker simply says “Rape me.” Naturally, this causes a real problem with his girlfriends, although he tries to be brutally honest and “Talk about it”, thinking that his being open could even help or further their current relationship. Caveh then winds up with a woman who programs the Austin Film Festival and understands his problem, but that also challenges him, inadvertently, to start pushing the envelope to the point where she can’t take it anymore.

Caveh’s problem is that he keeps challenging himself even after he’s satisfied. It’s never enough which is the sign of a true addict. At one point, Caveh finally buckles down and finds himself at a sexual addict anonymous class and realizes through the chronic masturbators, voyeur addicts and cheaters that they all share the same common pain.

Where “I am a Sex Addict” really shines is the editing structure of the film. From animated sequences, jump cut editing, jarring freeze frames, older film footage, narration and direct-to-camera testimony, Zahedi really creates a memory of his past that we come to understand. One particular technique I liked is the snapshot editing, where we only see the important frames of the scene, especially in one scene where Caveh brings a flower to his girlfriend and she slams the door in his face. Cut to the same shot with two flowers, then three and then four. Slam.

The film is a bit too long. Even at 98 minutes, there are some sequences that are dragged out, such as a brothel sequence in Germany that Caveh takes his film festival girlfriend to. And the financial restraints -- $170,000 budget and shot on digital-video after being denied a larger sum of money-- stand out sometimes, although he does save himself at times by poking fun at it (“We didn’t have the budget to shoot in Paris” made me laugh since he sets the action in San Francisco, and then he he sprays his bald spot to make him appear as a younger Caveh circa 1983.)

That said, “I Am a Sex Addict” is a funny and telling look into the sexual problems of an adult man who finally becomes better from his experiences. I’m sure that the real Caveh isn’t much like the crazy sexual creature that is depicted in the film, but his performance does such a good job at making us believe in this sexual creature.

OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Tribeca Film Festival For more in the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Sydney Film Festival For more in the 2005 Sydney Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Brisbane Film Festival. For more in the 2005 Brisbane Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Chicago Film Festival For more in the 2005 Chicago Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Vancouver Film Festival For more in the 2005 Vancouver Film Festival series, click here.

User Comments

9/16/06

utkarsh

this is the most unsexual pics that i have ever seen

6/04/06

michael

has its moments and probably worth a look

6/02/06

San Lamar

bleh

4/19/06

vera selig

funny, honest, woody allen like, touching, apretty good film

11/26/05

Todd Reinert

It's ME baby

10/20/05

Donny B.

Hilarious and inventive use of re-enactments - film is more than the sum of its parts

10/16/05

jojo

whew

9/22/05

mung

I'm a sex addict, too...it's just that my supply is pretty low.

9/08/05

nithyanandhan

i want a fuck movies

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